Starlog
by Yanagi Nagi
Summary: To grow up, everyone need to let go of their pasts and move on with their lives. As Honoka, Kotori and Umi do so, dozens of trials lie bare before them. But is letting go of their precious memories the kind of growing up that they have always wanted? [Het & Yuri, HonoKotoUmi centric.]
1. I - The Things They Cherished

**Hello, Love Livers (or … whatever we LL lovers would love to call ourselves?)! I am just yet another new people in this fandom and after browsing through this canon in this site, I decided to contribute a piece of work that has been in my mind after finishing the anime. **

**That being said, this story is heavily inspired from the ending of the anime (sort of) and revolve around the three original members of μ's. This story is mainly going to be about them growing up into their young adult lives as they learn about things that both of the anime and game don't cover yet, and their struggles as they do so. Of course, as you can see from the genre and summary, there would be romance around them (both yuri and hetero, with the latter being the endgame). Still, both of the romance would be mostly subtle at best and the male OCs are already fleshed out in the drafts so that they're pretty far from self-insert and gary stus, they would have a lot of flaws/cons compared to their pros, which would be covered in the later chapters. However, this story is going to be mostly about the friendship of Honoka, Kotori, and Umi. That much I can promise you.**

**Also, props to chromate, another author who wrote for this site, who inspired and encouraged me to actually post this story to public by their well-written story 'Strawberry Swing'. If you haven't read it, I suggest you to take a look at it. It's still ongoing, but it definitely has one of the best prologues with original character centric in Love Live universe.**

**Summary:**** To grow up, everyone need to let go of their pasts and move on with their lives. As Honoka, Kotori and Umi do so, dozens of trials lie bare before them. But is letting go of their precious memories the kind of growing up that they have always wanted?**

**Genre****: Friendship, SoL, Romance, a little bit of Humor and Drama.**

**Characters****: Kotori, Umi, and Honoka as the main characters, and the other members of μ's and OCs as the secondary characters.**

**Pairings****: Light HonoKotoUmi, as well as light OC/Honoka, OC/Kotori, and OC/Umi.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Love Live. Cover image fully credited to Nicca (pixiv id 1732903).**

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><p><em><strong>I – The Things They Cherished<strong>_

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><p>"Honoka, please do this one as well."<p>

"H-Hweeeh…"

A loud thud and two piles of books were stacked on the desk of the Otonokizaka's Student Council room. In front of them was none other than the distrait president, who immediately slumped her head down as soon as the incident happened before her.

"Umi-chaaaan…" her soft voice creaked in a whine. "I can't do this anymoreeeee…."

In response to that, the blue haired vice-president Umi Sonoda narrowed her eyes. "No means no, Honoka. You are not going to goof off and you will definitely not until those documents are done."

Honoka's wail was getting louder at that one stern statement from her friend, she was possibly close to crying her suffering out, even. Her final hope for salvation from this torture was only by addressing her other childhood friend from the side. "Kotori-chaaaaan…"

It had been almost three months post Eli's, Nozomi's, and Nico's graduation and μ's had more or less 'retired' from their idol life. At first, the six remaining members barely wanted to do anything in particular without the attendance of the three seniors in the academy, but after a week or so, all of them seemed to be over their BSODs and decided to move on with their lives.

Honoka, more especially, was the one who recovered first. It was actually mostly thanks to her as well that the girls could walk again. Her cheerfulness and spirits were her biggest blessing for her friends. She was still not the best when it came to fulfilling her responsibility as the student council president, however, as one could witness from this very scene.

"Now, now, Umi-chan," Kotori, the light-brown haired girl rose from her seat as she awkwardly laughed a bit. "I think Honoka-chan deserves to rest a bit. She has finished a lot of documents, after all."

If there was one thing that Umi wouldn't back down at, it was at things like this. "You're spoiling Honoka a bit too much, Kotori. She can't go back from her own responsibilities."

"I-I guess so…?" As much as Kotori _would_ love to back Honoka up, she had more or less expected such strict answer from her strict friend. She still felt sorry for Honoka, though.

"Huweeeee…."

Umi could only let out a sigh at the whining Honoka. In a way, Umi admitted deep down that while she might be a little too hard on Honoka, this had to be done. Umi had always wanted her close friend to grow responsible, as she was right in the age where life was only going to get harder from this point on. She definitely didn't want Honoka to be someone that could only depend from others when it came to things like this.

"Honestly…" the blue haired girl rubbed a palm against her forehead, before she looked back at her watch. As she did that, a realization seemed to dawn on her. "Ah, I have to go to the archery club now. Honoka, be sure to-"

"It's not fair-! It's not fair!" Like a small kid whose dolls were taken from her, Honoka slammed her arms against the desk repetitively. "Umi-chan's trying to run away from the job!"

"I am not trying to run away!" Umi protested back with tone similar to Honoka's. "I have to focus because the archery competition is drawing near!"

"It's still not fair!"

"No, it is fair, Honoka! Just like you have the responsibilities of a student council president, I do have my own share of responsibilities as the member of the archery club!"

Their childish bickers were getting more and more… childish as it dragged on. Kotori, as the only witness of the event couldn't even do anything. She wanted to stop them, but she didn't feel any spot that she could just invade like that. The only thing that she could do from the side was watching, sweatdropping a big, single drop at this.

Fortunately for Kotori's mentality, after around a good one minute, they stopped their little quibble, with Umi as the one who backed down first.

"Enough of this," she made a single 'Hmph' as she walked to grab her bow from the corner of the room. "I can't let the others wait for me any longer. Go finish the documents, Honoka."

There was no word coming from Honoka's lips, although she did make a big pout at her vice president's order.

It was not like Umi ran away from her student council's work, at all. This Sunday (read: tomorrow) was going to be one of the biggest competitions in the club's schedule. Thanks to the hard work of the members, they had been granted the chance to go the national to show their worth in archery. Besides, that was also the last chance for Umi to take part in such event as she was in her last year of high school.

Instinctively, Umi's body seemed to freeze up at the thought. Her shiny amber eyes seemed to lose its glitter and her fingers were getting weak. So weak that she couldn't bring herself to grip on the bow.

_The… last…_

Much to Umi's dismay, her sudden change in behavior did not go unnoticed by Kotori. "Umi-chan? What's wrong?"

"Oh? Umm…" Umi managed to get away from her sudden reverie the moment her name was mentioned. "…Time sure do flies fast, don't they?"

Her out of nowhere, poem-like words managed to make both Kotori and Honoka quirk their eyebrow in mixture of curiosity and confusion. Umi herself paused for a moment to grab her archery equipment before she opened her lips again.

"We're third years already, and less than ten months, we're going to…"

It was all it took to put the whole thing in the room to a halt. Indeed, the three of them had reached the last year of their high school life. Within another year, they were required to stop looking back and carry on with their new young-adult lives. There would be no need for them to wear Otonokizaka's uniform anymore. There would be no need for them to come to the school in the morning. There would be no need for them to study for upcoming tests.

…And there would be no need for them to practice by the rooftop anymore, nor there would be any need to get spirited enough to join in a competitive Love Live.

There would no need for them to be together with μ's anymore.

The drastic change in Kotori's and Honoka's expression was enough to make Umi realize that she had touched the wrong topic. It was hard for her to do this, but Umi was forcing herself to smile reassuringly at her best friends. "That was so sentimental of me, I am sorry. Please just forget that I've ever said that, you two."

Umi's forced smile, like she had expected, didn't make the situation any brighter. Still, Umi kept her smile intact as she shouldered her bow. "Well then, I'll be going now. See you two later."

Without both Kotori and Honoka paying any attention to her, Umi walked to the door, slowly opening it before she walked past it and closed it again politely.

That sound of the door closing was the last sound that echoed in the council's chamber for the next five minutes. Honoka, who was actually about to do the papers in front of her, seemed to lose her will to do so and Kotori could only focus her eyes against the blue sky that was visible through the window, lost in her own thought.

"One… year, huh?"

Honoka was the first one to break the voiceless situation by letting out loud her mumble. Kotori didn't turn her attention at her, but she had heard the basic gist of what her friend had muttered.

"…Mmm…"

"I wonder…" Honoka continued with the equal soft tone just a moment after she had heard Kotori's response. "…Did Eli-chan, Nozomi-chan, and Nico-chan… think about this thing as well back there…?"

"Perhaps…" Kotori absentmindedly replied. "…They did…"

Suddenly, even lifting with their arm to even do something was so hard. Both of Kotori and Honoka, but especially the former, couldn't even bring themselves to think what kind of future would befall before them with lesser μ's members around. μ's was like their second family, where they felt like they could do everything as long as they were around. Honoka had long acknowledged that the precious memories with μ's would someday end and she had once prepared her heart and body that she would accept the just fact, but in the end, the thought of living without μ's around would be too saddening.

"Honoka-chan."

Honoka had been too engrossed in her imagination of living such a void life that she didn't notice that Kotori was now standing in front of her, who soon grabbed her hands together with her own, two slender hands.

"Let's be positive, okay? We could still meet each other even though we graduated, right? With Umi-chan, Hanayo-chan, Maki-chan, Rin-chan, and even Eli-chan, Nozomi-chan, and Nico-chan..." as she responded, Kotori showered Honoka with the best smile that she could muster. "I think what Umi-chan tried to tell us was that we shouldn't be scared, regardless of what kind of future we are in, okay?"

If Honoka's eyes weren't watery yet, they were definitely wet now. She made a quick attempt to wipe them off, however, before she replied to Kotori's reassurance with a small nod of agreement. Content with that answer, Kotori pulled her hands back, still keeping her smile at Honoka.

"…Thank you, Kotori-chan," one last sweep from her finger, and Honoka's eyes were as good as dry again. "I'm glad that you are here."

"You're welcome, Honoka-chan," Kotori sweetly replied as she walked back to her seat. "I will always be here for you."

With that, Honoka seemed to regain her optimistic pace, and before long, she was more than energized to return to the paperworks.

That was it for the ever-so optimistic Honoka. But for the stepford-smiler Kotori Minami, it impacted harder than what she showed on the surface. Thank goddess Umi wasn't in the room anymore, or she would have probably caught up with her stiff expression.

…_My…Future…_

Putting one hand under her cheek to hold the weight of her head on it, Kotori averted her eyes to look at the afternoon sky, lost in thought once again.

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><p>Just like Umi had said earlier, time did fly so fast. Otonokizaka's school gate was already closed, and the school clubs as well as student council members had gone home. Most people had already gone for dinner and taken a bath, preparing themselves to face the upcoming tomorrow.<p>

This 'most' didn't include the three founding member of μ's, of course.

The first thing that could be heard from Sonoda's dojo was the creaking sound of arrow clashing against the formation of rocks and destroying itself. Counting the one that just happened, it had been six times in chain that Umi missed to shot her arrow to the target. For some unknown reason, Umi couldn't concentrate even in the littlest in her practice and instead, her mind would bring her back to what had happened this afternoon.

What she had said back there in the council room was the biggest stupidity that she had ever done in her life. Everything seemed to fall apart just after that. Who would have thought? Her most precious memories of being together with μ's would be destroyed by the upcoming harsh reality called 'growing up'. Soon, she would probably be separated from Kotori, Honoka, and the rest of them. She had not, was not, and would never be ready to face that kind of truth.

The worse thing was that Umi herself was the one who pulled the trigger. She was the one who stated the word, and she knew that she might had left unnecessary thinking for both Honoka and Kotori.

"…Some person you are, Umi Sonoda."

The blue haired girl muttered to herself before she shook her head to erase the thought away. Umi realized that she was the only one to take the blame, but still, keeping her thoughts around it would not bring her anywhere, especially when she had a competition tomorrow. For now, she needed to concentrate.

…

Inside her own room, Kotori was not faring any better. The thought of walking a different path as Umi's and Honoka's was too disheartening. She had once faced with this kind problem against Eli, Nozomi, and Nico, but she could soon keep her composure back as that was mostly because Kotori herself wasn't the one to leave.

But one more year, and she would be the one to leave.

"I don't want to…" she mumbled to no one in particular while hugging her pillow close. "I want to be with Umi-chan… Honoka-chan… and the others…"

That was quite a wishful thinking, granted. Still, no matter how much she wanted her life to be like this, the earth would never stop rotating just for her sake, and time would keep on ticking. Kotori needed to grow and adapt, her future waited for her.

Absentmindedly, she grabbed her cellphone from her side as she blankly stared at the screen. There, there was only one big text and two buttons, one with green background and one with red background. The text itself was saying 'Honoka-chan' in hiragana and the two buttons were for dialing and cancelling such action respectively.

Kotori wanted a shoulder to lean on. She wanted some enlightenment for her situation, in any form possible. She couldn't possibly burden the second years, as well as her seniors, with this problem and she would definitely not interrupt Umi-chan, since she was to attend an archery competition tomorrow. Honoka-chan's would be the one that fit the bill the most, but…

…But calling Honoka-chan would only repeat what had happened in the council room.

In the end, her fingers didn't find the will to move to touch the green button on the screen.

…

What Kotori had done was probably the right thing. For if she had managed to call Honoka, there would be no response coming from the other end.

The once μ's leader was lying restlessly on her bed with her left forearm covering both of her eyes. Although Honoka wasn't asleep yet, but for once, she had lost her entire will to sleep.

"…A life… without Kotori-chan… and Umi-chan…"

It hurts a lot just even just by imagining it.

Perhaps… Just perhaps… If she put a lot of thought in that, there would be a way in the future where she, Umi, and Kotori could smile together again, face to face.

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><p><strong>Actually, the draft for the prologue was a lot longer than this, but should I do so, there is literally no other point of the storyline where I can end the chapter well. <strong>

**What I tried to cover in this chapter is the emotional strain and imagination of leaving your best friends away, in which the three main characters reacted differently at. This chapter might be a little too dramatic and perhaps even a little rushed. Worry not though for after this chapter, the genre shift would be drastic. Starting next chapter, everything's going to be more slice of lice and lighthearted.**

**I hope the premise would interest you guys enough. Reviews, favorites, and/or follows would be fantastic! **


	2. IIa - Kotori Minami -wimp-

**I thought that this story won't even have any followers and sort, but in the end, I was proved wrong. I thank you for anyone who has spent their time visiting and reading this story!**

**Now, there are three second chapters, which are split up accordingly to the main character. This chapter will cover Kotori's, with the other two in two upcoming chapters.**

**Chapter title and opening as well as ending quotes taken from a song by Back-On called 'wimp', which was sung for the anime Gundam Build Fighter as its second opening. Honestly, if you have a time to spare, go watch that anime (Or at the very least, listen to the song). It's pretty amazing, even for someone who isn't into mecha.**

**Without further ado, enjoy the first of the second chapter. As always, I own nothing of Love Live but the original plot of this small story.**

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><p><em>"When you wish to become stronger, your wings stop shivering and cut through darkness."<em>

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><p><strong><em>IIa. Kotori Minami ~wimp~<em>**

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><p>Kotori was never a heavy sleeper, even three hours of sleep would already be enough for her to restore her energy.<p>

"Nnngh…"

It was still half past six in the morning and granted, it was Sunday, where she would be able to sleep longer than usual (notably after staying up until late thinking about… things), but Kotori was no Honoka. She was always the model student and waking up early had become a habit of hers. Her mind had already pushed her body to rise from her bed to stretch her arms.

She let out one last yawn before she approached the mirror on the side of the room to do her hair. As Kotori did that, even though she was focusing her eyes on her hair, she couldn't help but admit that she was not feeling her best. To be honest, it might have been only her own imagination, but the blurry light of her eyes were showing how tired she was mentally.

A sigh escaped her lips. Maybe she did need to give a call on Honoka and ask her to accompany her to get her mind (or in the best possible way, their minds) off of this internal pressure.

_It wouldn't hurt to try, right?_

Slowly, Kotori grabbed her cellphone to search the name of a friend that she treasured the most in the phonebook.

…

Should anyone walked pass the second floor hallway of the Kousaka's sweet shop, they would be able to hear _START: DASH_ coming from a certain room. In closer inspection, the catchy music was coming from Honoka's cellphone, in which went unheard by the original owner due to one exact reason: She was still sleeping tight.

"Umi-chan… Kotori-chan…"

Her little sister, Yukiho, who managed to overhear her sister's mumble from the doorway, decided to not interrupt her and let her drift longer in her sleep.

…

…

They said that third time was the charm, but even after making the fourth call, Kotori wasn't able to connect to Honoka. Knowing what kind of sleeper Honoka-chan was, it was pretty understandable for Kotori, though. She couldn't help but letting out a dry and awkward laugh.

"I should've guessed."

Well, that's that. Kotori made a quick attempt to put her cellphone back to her desk and head for her wardrobe. After this one bath, going somewhere by herself could be a change of pace, right?

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><p>As Kotori paid the entrance ticket, she maidenly walked through the entrance. Two steps forwards and thus, she was officially inside the infamous Ueno Zoo(*). By herself, nonetheless. Really, it was not that she didn't want any company with her, but it was just like she had thought… Sometimes, a time alone was necessary.<p>

She just silently hoped that by doing this, she wouldn't bring trouble to Honoka and the others like in her second years.

Kotori immediately shook her head, at no one but herself. No, there was no point in remembering that. Thinking about it would only put more frustration to her mind. For today, there was only one objective in her mind and that was enjoying her Sunday to the fullest.

First thing first, of course Kotori would make a direct beeline to a certain exhibit of the zoo.

When it came to animals, alpaca would be the first thing that came to her mind. As her legs brought her closer to the designated spot, her heart kept thumping with excitement. It was not like she was bored of the one in the school's stable, but Kotori would always more than content to see (and if it was possible, touch) more alpacas.

After a good five minutes of tracking the right path, the young Minami successfully stumbled upon her destination. The animals there, just like she had expected, managed to bring an instant magic to make her smile from ear-to-ear. There were four alpacas in the exhibit and each of them had unique appearances on their own, whether it was their face, fur's thickness, or even fur's color.

The only thing that stopped Kotori from squealing her heart out loud at their fluffiness was because she wasn't allowed to touch them in this zoo. So unfortunate, but hey, beggars couldn't be choosers. Being able to watch them walking around and do alpaca things was already more than enough to give Kotori tranquility that she was looking for.

It was probably a little to egoistic of herself and people around would think of her as a weirdo, but even after thirty minutes or so, Kotori didn't even budge an inch from her position. The spot she was in was too perfect. Frankly, she could stand there and watch the alpacas forever.

Except she could not, since there probably would be a lot of people that would love to be in her spot as well. Of course, she also did not forget the fact that the zoo would close for the day eventually. Kotori made a quick shift in her position to glance over at her left wrist, where her watch was attached neatly. She had been in there for more than half an hour and it would probably be better if she moved now, to give the chance to others.

As she turned around and readying herself to see other animals, her lustrous amber eyes managed to catch something… interesting, for the lack of better words.

Just across the alpaca exhibit, there were two benches were visitors could use freely to take a short rest. The left bench was blatantly empty, but the right bench was the one that caught Kotori's curiosity. There, there was a young man who looked scarcely older than she was, or maybe the same age as her. He was dressed in teal colored shirt with a casual capri pants for his lower part, sitting contently.

The sitting part was not the one that made Kotori wonder, though. It was due the fact that the black-haired boy had a book in his hand that he kept working at. To be honest, working inside a zoo was not unheard of, but it was definitely unusual, especially when witnessing it in live.

Kotori didn't exactly understand what brought her legs forward. Maybe it was curiosity or maybe it was some other reason, but in the end, she was slipping toward the young man, but careful enough that she wouldn't disturb him from working.

On a closer inspection, Kotori was able to recognize what kind of work the person was working on. In his hand, it was not a normal book, but instead it was a sketch book. Furthermore, upon peeking from behind on what was drawn on it, Kotori's expression made a drastic change.

On its surface, even though it was only a rough sketch drawn by a pencil, there was a drawing of the alpaca's exhibit along with the animal itself and any foliage that was beyond the exhibit's fence. Genuine 'amazing' or 'beautiful' was not enough of compliments to describe about how good the drawing was. It was so… unearthly magnificent.

"…How beautiful…"

Kotori was too charmed with the drawing that she didn't notice that her mumble was way too loud than she originally wanted to. To that, the young man with the drawing book seemed to be surprised. He even almost jumped from his seat at the sudden voice from his back.

…Whoops.

In surprise, the young man quickly turned his head around to look at the source of the sudden whisper. His dark blue eyeballs immediately locked themselves with Kotori's amber one. His lips also opened up as he mouthed a barely audible 'Uh…?'.

Obviously, to retrospect to what she had just done, Kotori's cheek was burning in embarrassment.

"Ah, uhm…" Kotori meekly spoke to break the awkward stare between her eyes and the man's. "I-I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your work."

She had expected (well, half-expected) the boy before her to scold her for what she had just done, yet in the end, he didn't even raise his voice. In fact, after blinking his eyelids twice at her, he seemed to make a smile and soft chuckle.

"Oh, it's alright, I was just surprised."

When he finally spoke… His voice, if Kotori might say it herself, was considerably mellow. It had this deep-esque frequency yet still managed to be domesticated and gentle, which was very fitting for someone with his kind of physique. Not that Kotori had a lot of comparison for it, though.

"But really, I meant what I said," Kotori commented again softly. "Your drawing is really beautiful."

The boy before Kotori seemed to take the compliment well, although he didn't show his reaction entirely. His lips made a sheepish smile and between the little gaps of them, a weak laugh managed to slip out.

"No, it's still far from acceptable, actually," he gently replied. "But if you think so, I'm really honored. Thanks."

At his boyish smile, Kotori replied with her girlish one. He seemed to be a relatively nice person.

Still, it would be pretty rude of her to interrupt him from drawing further (which she had already done, actually) and Kotori, being a docile and sweet girl she was, knew that this was the time for her to make her exit. The young lady performed a slight bow at him as she was about to walk away.

Yet what welcomed her was not what she had expected. When she looked at the boy again, he seemed to be filled with curiosity. In contrast of his previous expression, he made this weird face at her, as if he was trying to say something but he didn't have the right vocabulary to let out.

"Uh… I might be wrong," after a while, he finally managed to speak. "But aren't you the one from that idol group? Muze or… something like that?"

Kotori was a bit of loss at words at the sudden question. Unconsciously, she froze on her spot at the mention of 'idol group'. It was only for a flash, but the memory of what she had been thinking for the whole night came to her mind again. It felt like a sudden arrow stabbed right through her heart.

This time, however, before her expression could even show any form of depression, Kotori covered it up with a smile.

"It's μ's," she explained. "And yes, I was a part of it."

Even saying 'was' had already put mild bitterness in her tongue. This didn't go unnoticed by the young man before him. He looked like he wanted to ask about her rather poor choice of words, but he voiced nothing. Rather, he made a somewhat long pause before he said something again.

"Ah, so I was correct," he continued with another soft chuckle. "A good friend of mine would kill to be able to meet any of you directly like this."

Kotori wasn't really sure of what to make from the implication. "Would kill… Is that so?"

"Sorry, that was probably a bad joke," he covered it up right away with yet another gentle laugh, which Kotori soon noticed that he would do every time he spoke with her. Not that she hated it, his voice was so gentle and soothing. "I just didn't expect that I would meet someone from μ's in a place like this. Here with your boyfriend, miss?"

She couldn't tell whether the boy was joking or not, but regardless of that, Kotori could feel her cheeks turning hot slightly.

"Oh, no. I am here by myself," she responded, trying her best to not to sound awkward. "Besides, I don't have a boyfriend."

He seemed to be very perceptive of Kotori's statement. Well, being in a school idol was probably pretty tiring and she probably didn't have a time for relationship. That was what he thought, at least.

"So you are here by yourself," he let out another fit of gentle chuckle. Changing the topic here would probably be a good idea. "Same as me, then. I go to this zoo almost every week by myself."

Before Kotori could say anything to that, he kept on speaking. "It's worth my time. This place's cozy and clean, pretty comfortable. Besides, the animals are so healthy and cute to watch."

His last sentence was the only trigger that Kotori needed to agree with his statement. This was taken much further by Kotori when he silently indicated the alpaca with his finger.

"Mmm!" Kotori reacted, her voice was considerably more excited than before. "They have such fluffy and thick furs! Sad that we can't touch them like in my school, though…"

The guy couldn't even contain his surprise from emerging on his face. "You have… an alpaca at school?"

"Yes, we have two alpacas in our school's stable," she continued cheerfully. "Hopefully more soon!"

"Wow," he spoke in awe, although his reaction was actually pretty understandable. "Your school must be pretty big. Otonokizaka, if I am not mistaken?"

Kotori made a nod to affirm his question.

It was not until that point that the boy had forgotten something very important. The most basic of the basic in conversation, even.

"Ah, right, my bad. Please stop standing right there, miss," he stated as he pulled the bag from his side closer to him. "You can sit here if you want."

To be quite frank, Kotori was used to stand for a long time. After dozens of performance together with μ's as well as hours of working as a maid, she had often stood on her spot for hours. Still, it would be obscene of her to refuse his offer. Thus, with a 'thank you', Kotori made her way to the open spot on the bench and sat there.

As soon as she was seated though, she was a little surprised by a hand that was extended just before her. It was the man's.

"I also haven't introduced myself, have I? My name is Hiroaki Shun, from Azabu High(*). You can just call me Hiroaki."

It didn't even take that long for Kotori to accept the handshake and smile back at him.

"Nice to meet you, Hiroaki-san. I am Kotori Minami, or just Kotori is alright."

* * *

><p>"Woah…" Kotori flipped yet another page of Hiroaki's sketch book. "They're all so well-drawn, Hiroaki-san."<p>

For those who were around, it probably looked pretty normal. To Kotori herself, however, it was weird. She had been around in many places and she had interacted with a lot of people, but to be able to feel so comfortable around a person that had been a total stranger in less than one hour was like a magic. Maybe it was due to his appearance or maybe it was his behavior that she was feeling so, but Kotori barely cared about it anymore. This Hiroaki person beside her was definitely far from a bad person. The way Hiroaki spoke and responded to her words were pretty different compared to Umi's, Honoka's and the others from μ's as well. He rarely spoke directly to the point most of the time and he seemed to love putting details in his words, but she had to admit, his speech would always formal and aristocratic.

To be able to meet such a nice person at this place was such a blessing for Kotori. Thank god that she decided to go to Ueno today.

"Thanks, I tried my best," Hiroaki scratched his neck-length hair, a little sheepish. "It's all in the practice, I suppose."

No matter how much Kotori looked at the drawing, she still couldn't see any flaw in them. Sure, the drawing was far from the same with the actual scenery, but it was probably because of the style. Hiroaki's drawing was more cartoonish than realistic and there was nothing bad about that, of course. In fact, Kotori had always drawn things in the same style.

"How about Kotori-san?" Hiroaki interrupted her train of thought. "Are you into art as well?"

"Mmm, I love to draw," she replied humbly. "I can only draw fashion related things, though. I used to be the one who design μ's' costume."

"'Used to'?"

Instant dead pause.

Much to Hiroaki's dismay, Kotori's face seemed to be disheartened.

"Ah, umm…" realizing what he had just said, Hiroaki nervously scratched the back of his neck in an apologetic manner. "Sorry, Kotori-san. You don't have to answer that."

Kotori shook her head instead. Sooner or later, she had to say it as well, and this seemed to be a perfect time to explain it all. "No, it's alright. I think Hiroaki-san deserves to know it."

"μ's is no longer around," Kotori forced a smile as she stated it, dropping the book that she was holding aside. "We're retired."

It seemed that the guy had more or less expected quite an answer. He moved his lips open, but no words were out. Granted, there were about to be some words, but after Hiroaki reviewed the barely visible expression change by Kotori's face, he stopped his entire effort to put on another question of 'why' and 'how' and instead, he said something that Kotori needed at the moment.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

There was a clear pause that lasted for a while before a girly voice, which definitely came from Kotori's end, broke the silence.

"Don't be, Hiroaki-san. It was our decision and we didn't regret it."

To say that she didn't regret it was the most blatant lie of the century. She didn't regret μ's breakdown that much, actually. The one that she regretted the most was that they have to bid farewell at the three oldest members of the group.

While Kotori was lost in her thought, her talking partner didn't seem to be able to make what was best from the awkward situation. Hiroaki _did_ notice the downer atmosphere around them and he knew that he should try to remedy it by saying something. The problem was that he definitely didn't know what to say. Hence instead of speaking, the black haired teenager picked the second option, which was giving Kotori the time and space that she needed. He slowly extended his hand to grab his sketching tool, being careful enough so that he didn't interrupt Kotori's reverie.

"Umm… Hiroaki-san…?"

He could swear that he almost jumped out in surprise at Kotori's sudden call. "Y-yes, Kotori-san?"

Kotori twirled her legs around idly, looking rather unsure to speak her mind out. After a while, she did say it, though. "Can I… Umm, confide something to you?"

She decided to bite the bullet instead of dodging it. Hiroaki himself seemed to be a bit shocked by the sudden request, as shown from how he blinked his eyes.

"I guess? What is it?"

No more beating around the bush for Kotori, she had decided. It would be a lie if Kotori didn't feel bad for consoling to someone who she had just met, but she could feel that the boy before her would be able to, at least, keep a secret and be a good listener.

"How do you deal with your future?"

It was so obvious that Hiroaki was only getting more confused at the seemingly out-of-nowhere question.

"Ah, I mean…" Kotori halted as she noticed the expression of her talking partner. "I'm not really sure about what's coming for me. There are… these people that I treasure the most… But if I'm going to chase after my dream, I can't be with them together anymore."

At the emphasis of '_treasure the most_', Kotori's voice was creaking low, and it was getting shakier as she finished her words.

"It… feels scary, really scary, to be separated from them, but…"

With that, there were no more words coming from Kotori. She couldn't even finish her sentence.

"Don't we all?"

A warm voice slipped into Kotori's ears and broke her train of thoughts. She quickly gazes over to see the source of the voice, who was none other but Hiroaki who had started to scribble something on his drawing book.

"Your worries are understandable, Kotori-san," he commented reassuringly, his hand kept on working as he spoke. "Myself… You… and basically everyone, we're going to grow old eventually. We can't stop the time. In fact, we're growing old as I speak here."

He turned his face at Kotori's, making sure that she managed to see his confident smile.

"Still, while growing old is mandatory and inevitable, growing up isn't. It is a choice," a small pause as he made his polite laugh. "For example, Kotori-san can choose what you want instead what you have to do."

Hiroaki's last sentence was everything that needed to make Kotori consider her whole life. "Do… what I want…?"

The black haired boy, once again, gave her a smile as he spoke. "I can't say that I understand fully of Kotori-san's problem, but I can tell that Kotori-san is not seeing every option. You know, when uncertainty strikes, our mind goes to work trying to predict how things will turn out. We choose from the options that are apparent to us—the ones we can see in the moment. But those options are never the whole story."

She felt weird.

After Hiroaki's long and wise explanation, Kotori felt something— No, a lot of things were lifted from her head. Those options were never the whole story… Right, everything was clear for her now. Her worries and fear of being separated from Umi-chan and Honoka-chan and repeating of what she had done back there had prevented her from seeing the bright part of things.

Seeing Kotori's face, which seemed to found a newfound salvation, Hiroaki's smile widened. It was a good moment to put the nail on the coffin, he supposed.

"So…" he spoke again, interrupting Kotori's brightening face. "…Just believe in this, Kotori-san. No matter what kind of things that you'll do, those people that you mentioned will support your decision. Surely they treasure you as much as you treasure them, right?"

…

There was but one answer to that. The answer that Kotori was so certain that nobody would be able to say that she was wrong.

"Yes!"

Kotori recognized it now. There was something that only she could do for herself, Honoka, and Umi. As a matter of fact, it was also something that she always wanted to do. How could she miss something so… basic and simple?

Internally between μ's members, Kotori was probably well-known for her indecisiveness. But honestly, if someone saw her face now, they would not dare to call her indecisive any further. Her eyes were glistering with the light of her determination. Her newborn resolution was too strong to be kept hidden inside.

Hiroaki, being the first one to witness the change on Kotori's mentality, couldn't help but make a secretive smile to himself. Truthfully, he was nobody to Kotori, just a random passerby who happened to interact with her. But to be able to help her to make that kind of face was an experience that he surely would not forget.

"Thank you very much, Hiroaki-san. You really helped me."

When she made this smile at him, Hiroaki was pretty sure that he _certainly_ would not forget this. Kotori had smiled at him before, but back there, she probably only smiled out of customary. This one was in a whole different level… She was genuinely smiling at him.

And it was too darn beautiful.

Being a straight guy himself, Hiroaki couldn't help but notice that his heart was beating faster than usual. Kotori was being absurdly cute in front of him, even for his standard of cute. "Don't mind it, it is in my best interest to help others."

Oh god, he just hoped his voice didn't come out all-squeaky and weird, which thankfully went over Kotori's head as she was too focused on her new inspiration.

"Still, Hiroaki-san has my utmost gratitude," Kotori's voice was still full of spirit. "How could I repay this…? Do you want something in particular? Anything?"

Hiroaki's head had officially exploded. Hell, his pencil might have dropped from his finger for all he could notice already.

"Kotori-san, that's…"

His answer came out a bit later than he wanted, mainly because he was a little struck by the sudden offer. He mean… Let's be real here, being able to be accompanied by a girl with Kotori-san's level of beauty was already a one in a lifetime blessing. Now she was offering him '_anything'_? _Innocently_? Most guys would probably say what they had in their sane, youthful mind.

Or people could call that perverted mind as well. Both works.

"…I don't think that's something you should say to others easily."

Kotori should be really grateful that the person beside her wasn't all _that_ perverted like any normal guys, though. He chose to dodge the subject rather than succumbing to a men wolves' instinct. Still, if Hiroaki's face hadn't gone all red from seeing Kotori's smile, it was definitely red now.

"Nuh-uh," she shook her head, most probably oblivious to Hiroaki's dilemma. "I really mean it. I can't possibly just let this go like that."

Oh, for the love of Picasso…

"No, really, Kotori-san…" he replied halfheartedly. It was pretty easy to tell from his expression and tone that Hiroaki was already… numb, for the lack of better terms. "It's alright."

Hiroaki seemed to be slapped with a big 'NO!' when he glanced at Kotori, though. As a matter of fact, the said ash haired girl was ignoring his remark. She was putting on her a thinking pose, mumbling something that the guy could barely hear.

Call it a hunch, but Hiroaki already had a bad feeling about this.

"…Kotori-sa—"

"Ah! I know!"

Kotori's sudden moment, once again, almost made Hiroaki yelp in surprise. She quickly jumped from her seat to stand in front of him. Before Hiroaki could catch what was happening, there was a hand extended in front of him.

Kotori was there with her hand held out, and there, she was holding her cellphone out.

"Can I have Hiroaki-san's e-mail(*)? I promise that by the next time we meet, I'll have something done for Hiroaki-san!"

…

The young artist blinked his eyes before he quirked one eyebrow at the girl in front of him. "…Really?"

By that, he didn't mean about this 'something' that Kotori had planned for him. What he actually meant (and surprised by) was that Kotori Minami, an ex-school idol, would give him her e-mail to a random people that she had just met a.k.a. Hiroaki Shun a.k.a. him?

But when Kotori managed a nod and an extremely wide smile, Hiroaki knew that things were not going to work as he wanted. Man, he was really weak to such a cute smile, huh? Not that it was a particularly bad thing.

"If you say so…"

Although there was still a bit of him that was reluctant, Hiroaki had to admit that he was mostly content with the turn of event. Steadily, the Azabu High student grabbed his black themed cellphone from his pocket, offering it to Kotori.

Before long, the two teenagers had officially traded their e-mail addresses.

Now then it was over, Kotori quickly put her phone back to her pocket, performing a bow at Hiroaki after. It was not that she didn't want to enjoy his company anymore, but she had to go now to do what she must.

"Once again, thank you for everything, Hiroaki-san, I have to go back now," she stated as she made a smile. "I promise you that you won't be disappointed the next time we meet."

As he reckoned, there was no place for Hiroaki to refuse her offer, as he was able to tell even after just meeting Kotori for approximately an hour. Despite her weak and docile behavior, she could be somewhat persistent. Hence, instead of reasoning further, the young man smiled back at her. "I'll look forward to it."

"Then I'll be on my way. Good afternoon, Hiroaki-san."

"Aah, be careful on your way home, Kotori-san."

With that, Kotori made an U-turn as she started walking, if not jumping around, to exit the zoo while still giggling happily in occasion. Thanks to a kind man she had just met in Ueno Zoo, her once damp dream seemed to be so radiant now.

* * *

><p>…And there! She was gone just like that, leaving Hiroaki to make a small sigh.<p>

Hiroaki Shun had never once consider himself as the luckiest man in this earth, but after what just happened to him, he might as well nominated himself as a contender for that spot. Making a dry laugh at himself, he grabbed his phone and brought the screen up.

The words '_Kotori Minami (Otonokizaka High School)_' was written neatly there, along with her e-mail address.

He didn't know what kind of good deeds that he had done in his previous life to deserve this, really. Everyone in his school, particularly a certain classmate of him, would probably burn a whole mall just to be in his shoes right now. Just yesterday, he wasn't really all that interested in this school idol thing, let alone μ's. Yet after this coincidental meeting, there was something deep in his heart that seemed to push him to start recognizing them, and he knew that he would not regret it.

His smile was getting wider as he read the name on the screen again.

It was then as well that Hiroaki was also reminded of the time when he was reading Kotori's name. On the corner of the screen, the clock was showing the current time, which was already half past four.

With that in mind, Hiroaki pushed the e-mail icon in his smartphone. That guy should be done attending the tournament by now.

* * *

><p>As soon as she was out of the zoo, the third year of Otonokizaka quickly grabbed her phone, dialing a certain number. It didn't take that long for her call to be answered positively.<p>

"_Kotori-chan? Sorry that I couldn't answer your call this morning. What is it?"_

Maybe it was just her imagination, but there was an extra cheerfulness that she managed to overhear from Honoka's tone. Well, if so, it was better.

"Are you free tonight, Honoka-chan? Can I come to your house?"

The once indecisive little bird was now flapping her wings, ready to face anything that might come before her.

* * *

><p><em><em>"I covered up my weakness by acting tough, but I won't flee anymore!<br>____Let's fly once again into the sky!"__

* * *

><p><strong>*Ueno Zoo, as well as Azabu High School, is a real thing in Japan. Azabu High in particular is one of the best high schools in Tokyo. Oh, it's also an all-boys school. I thought it would be interesting to put the male foil(s) in an all boys school to make a direct contrast to the three female main casts.<strong>

***The norm in Japan, when it came to phone usage, is rather unique compared to a lot of other countries (I am a Singaporean, btw). In Japan, it seems people use e-mail than number to text/interact with each others. This unique culture of them even has its own wiki page and you can learn about this further by doing so.**

**There, around five thousand words in totals! My beta reader and I really enjoyed going over around and around this chapter. We thought that Kotori's point of view would be the most interesting one to open the new window to the male characters. Compared to the somewhat-clumsy Honoka and pure yet awkward Umi, most likely Kotori would be the first one to accept her male counterpart as you can also tell from her side stories in the game. Hands down, Kotori is the sweetest thing that could come out from the universe.**

**So now that one of the male OCs has made his appearance, I would be very happy if people would give an input about him, or this story in general. In Love Live term, his profile would be somewhat like this:**

**Name****: Hiroaki Shun (written as ****広朗 竣****, literally means 'ending things with widespread happiness').****  
><strong>**Age****: 17.****  
><strong>**Birthday****: February 22 (Pisces).****  
><strong>**Blood**** Type: A.****  
><strong>**Height****: 167cm.****  
><strong>**Appearance****: Neck-length black hair and dark blue eyes. Relatively average physique, with the good emphasizing on 'average', although some of his friends would tell him that he looks borderline feminine. (Reader's visual reference: Lion Magnus from Tales of Destiny).****  
><strong>**Favorite Food****: Miso.****  
><strong>**Least Favorite Food****: Wasabi.****  
><strong>**Ideal VA****: Sōichirō Hoshi (Kira Yamato from Gundam Seed/Destiny, Yukimura Sanada from Sengoku Basara, Seto Kousuke from Kagerou Project).****  
><strong>**Personality****: A gentle 17 years old student of Azabu High. An artist in the making, he shows an exceptional talent in drawing and coloring sketches. Even though he doesn't converse much with others, he has a lot of way with words, which helps him survive in his school often. His classmates often told him that he's way wiser than his age, which he almost always shrugs away humbly. Not very good with surprises. He does have a lot of secret that only a certain number of people know though, and that is…**

**More reviews, favorites, and followers are always appreciated! Until next time!**


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